After her plane crashes, a seventeen-year-old girl spends eleven days walking through the Peruvian jungle. Against all odds, with no food, shelter, or equipment, she gets out. A better-equipped group of adult survivors of the same crash sits down and dies. What makes the difference?
Examining such stories of miraculous endurance and tragic death—how people get into trouble and how they get out again (or not)—Deep Survival takes us from the tops of snowy mountains and the depths of oceans to the workings of the brain that control our behavior. Through close analysis of case studies, Laurence Gonzales describes the “stages of survival” and reveals the essence of a survivor—truths that apply not only to surviving in the wild but also to surviving life-threatening illness, relationships, the death of a loved one, running a business during uncertain times, and even war. In the end, he finds, it is what’s in your heart, not what’s in your pack, that separates the living from the dead.
Fascinating and absolutely essential for anyone who hikes in the woods, this book will change the way we understand ourselves and the great outdoors.
The 1950s was a boom time for the Catholic Church in America, with large families of devout members providing at least one son or daughter for a life of religious service. Boston was at the epicenter of this explosion, and Bill Manseau and Mary Doherty - two eager young parishioners from different towns - became part of a new breed of clergy, eschewing the comforts of homey parishes and choosing instead to minister to the inner-city poor. Peter Manseau's riveting evocation of his parents' parallel childhoods, their similar callings, their experiences in the seminary and convent, and how they met while tending to the homeless of Roxbury during the riot-prone 1960s is a page-turning meditation on the effect that love can have on profound faith.
Once married, the Manseaus continued to fight for Father Bill's right to serve the church as a priest, and it was into this situation that Peter and his siblings were born and raised to be good Catholics while they witnessed their father's personal conflict with the church's hierarchy. A multigenerational tale of spirituality, Vows also charts Peter's own calling, one which he tried to deny even as he felt compelled to consider the monastic life, toying with the idea of continuing a family tradition that stretches back over 300 years of Irish and French Catholic priests and nuns.
It is also in Peter's deft hands that we learn about a culture and a religion that has shaped so much of American life, affected generations of true believers, and withstood great turmoil. Vows is a compelling tale of one family's unshakable faith that to be called is to serve, however high the cost may be.
One of the most sought-after celebrity titles of recent years, Des Lynam's autobiography gives a frank and opinionated insight into the man behind the myth.Famously guarded about his private life, Des sets the record straight on all the stories that have been written about him, giving a unique view of life at the very top of his career - the personalities, the feuds, tragedies and glory.One of the most accomplished broadcasters of his generation, Des Lynam has graced our screens for more than thirty years.At the BBC, Des covered World Cups and European Championships; many Wimbledons; seven Olympic Games, including the Israeli shootings in Munich; travelling the world; and following his hero Muhammad Ali to fights in Zaire, Malaysia and the USA.Here he tells of the highs and the lows, the programmes he turned down - and the ones he wished he had! He also offers a candid account of life behind the scenes at the BBC - and of his five years at ITV, his reasons for going there and why his decision was justified but in other ways disastrous. This is the real Des: honest, warm, funny and brilliant - the man a whole nation has taken to heart.
Over the years there have been many books published about the Kennedy family, individually and collectively. But only this audio book provides a powerful and detailed look at the complex relationships shared between the three women who were not born Kennedy but who married into the family: Jackie Bouvier, Ethel Skakel, and Joan Bennett. For each of the Kennedy wives, the Camelot years provided an entirely different experience of life lessons. These were the years when Jackie's dreams became reality, but at a hefty price. For Ethel, these were years of frustration where her dreams of being First Lady were dashed and she sank into a deep depression. For Joan, her years as a Kennedy wife were the most confusing of her life, and she is now a recovering alcoholic. This fascinating story is set against a panorama of explosive American history, as the women cope with Jack's and Bobby's alleged affairs with Marilyn Monroe, their tragic assassinations, and other tragedies and scandals. Whether dealing with their husbands' blatant infidelities, stumping for their many political campaigns, touring the world to promote their family's legacy or raising their children, the Kennedy wives did it all with grace, style, and dignity. In the end, JACKIE, ETHEL, JOAN is a story of redemption and great courage.
Mario Benedetti, naciO el 14 de septiembre de 1920 en Uruguay, publicO QuiEn de nostoros, su primera novela, en 1953. Con esta novela y La tregua, publicada en 1960, Benedetti adquiriO trascendencia internacional. En 1987 este autor y exiliado polItico recibiO el Premio Llama de Oro de AmnistIa Internacional. En QuiEn de nosotros se trata el tema del triAngulo amoroso entre Miguel, Alicia y Lucas. Hay tres versiones del conflicto, en la voz de cada uno de los protagonistas. En el fin, uno de ellos pregunta, "QuiEn de nosotros juzga a quiEn?"
Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this best-selling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earth and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power do spirituality to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou's latest unforgettable work offers a gem of truth on every page.
This wise book is the wonderful continuation of the bestselling Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now.
Even the Stars Look Lonesome is Maya Angelou talking of the things she cares about most. In her unique, spellbinding way, she re-creates intimate personal experiences and gives us her wisdom on a wide variety of subjects. She tells us how a house can both hurt its occupants and heal them. She talks about Africa. She gives us a profile of Oprah. She enlightens us about age and sexuality. She confesses to the problems fame brings and shares with us the indelible lessons she has learned about rage and violence. And she sings the praises of sensuality.
Even the Stars Look Lonesome imparts the lessons of a lifetime.
In this stirring book, Martin Gilbert tells the intensely human story of Winston Churchill's profound connection to America, a relationship that resulted in an Anglo-American alliance that has stood at the center of international relations for more than a century.
Winston Churchill, whose mother, Jennie Jerome, the daughter of a leading American entrepreneur, was born in Brooklyn in 1854, spent much of his seventy adult years in close contact with the United States. In two world wars, his was the main British voice urging the closest possible cooperation with the United States. From before the First World War, he understood the power of the United States, the "gigantic boiler," which, once lit, would drive the great engine forward.
Sir Martin Gilbert was appointed Churchill's official biographer in 1968 and has ever since been collecting archival and personal documentation that explores every twist and turn of Churchill's relationship with the United States, revealing the golden thread running through it of friendship and understanding despite many setbacks and disappointments. Drawing on this extensive store of Churchill's own words - in his private letters, his articles and speeches, and press conferences and interviews given to American journalists on his numerous journeys throughout the United States - Gilbert paints a rich portrait of the Anglo-American relationship that began at the turn of the last century.
In Churchill and America, Gilbert explores how Churchill's intense rapport with this country resulted in no less than the liberation of Europe and the preservation of European democracy and freedom. It also set the stage for the ongoing alliance that has survived into the twenty-first century.
"This is a fascinating story, straightforward and well told, of one of the 20th century's most important leaders and the critical connection he forged between the world's fading superpower and its rising one."-Publishers Weekly
"It is doubtful whether anyone on this planet knows more about the life and times of Winston Churchill than his official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert."-Library Journal
Frank Skinner is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most successful comedians appearing on British screens. Born Chris Collins in 1957 he grew up in the West Midlands where he inherited his father's passion for football, a West Bromich Albion supporter, along with a liking for alcohol. Expelled from school at 16 Frank held various jobs later going on to gain an MA in English Literature. Nurturing a serious drink problem from the age of fourteen, Frank eventually turned to Catholicism in 1987 and hasn't had a drink since. He performed his first stand up gig in December 1987. His first television appearance in 1988 met with fits of laughter from the audience and 131 complaints, including one from cabinet minister Edwina Currie. He met fellow comedian David Baddiel in 1990 and the two went on to share a flat throughout the early 90's and to create the hit TV series Fantasy Football League. Winner of the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival, Skinner's is a unique mixture of laddish and philosophical humour which has won him the prime time ITV show - The Frank Skinner Show. Here, for the first time, Frank candidly tells us of the highs and lows of his fascinating life and career.
La historia de Esmeralda Santiago comienza en la parte rural de Puerto Rico, donde sus padres y siete hermanos, en continuas luchas los unos con los otros, vivIan una vida alborotada pero llena de amor y ternura. De niNa, Esmeralda aprendiO a apreciar cOmo se come una guayaba, a distinguir la canciOn del coquI, a identificar los ingredientes en las morcillas y a ayudar a que el alma de un bebE muerto subiero al cielo. Pero precisamente cuando Esmeralda parecIa haberlo aprendido todo sobre su cultura, la llevaron a Nueva York, donde las reglas-- y el idioma-- eran no sOlo diferentes, sino tambiEn desconcertantes. COmo Esmeralda superO la adversidad, se ganO entrada a la Performing Arts High School y despuEs continuO a Harvard, de donde se graduO con altos honores, es el realto de la tremenda trayectoria de una mujer verdaderamente extraordinaria. From a rippled zinc shack in rural Puerto Rico to "the better life" in a decaying Brooklyn tenement, Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican childhood is one of sorcery, smoldering war between the sexes, and high comedy. Hers is a portrait of a harsh but enchanted world that can never be reclaimed. Selling over 16,000 copies in hardcover, this triumphant coming-of-age memoir is now available in paperback editions in both English and Spanish. In the tradition of Black Ice, Santiago writes lyrically of her childhood on her native island and of her bewildering years of transition in New York City.
John C. Maxwell, best selling author and motivational teacher, is known for his brilliant insights into the nature of leadership - and how we can tap into unfound abilities within ourselves. His new audiobook turns to the wellspring of tradition, as he offers inspiration, learning, and the power of prayer from the lives of Old Testament heroes.In the race of life - a contest of stamina, endurance, faith, and understanding - we are never alone. Others have run it before us. In John C. Maxwell's vision of humanity, they are in the stands, urging us on, praying for us, and offering the wisdom of their experience. We need only listen for their voices and hear their stories to turn our modern-day challenges into victories.From Rebekah to David, Abraham to Moses, Running with the Giants puts us face to face with the towering figures of the Bible. From these great heroes - and from the inimitable John C. Maxwell - comes the inspiration to live as they did: as leaders, as success stories, and as people close to God.
In this intensely personal, deeply moving account—part memoir, part journalism—the author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem exposes the layers and facets of her life over a year of dramatic and unexpected events.
Life changes fast…. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year's Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.
The weeks and months that followed "cut loose any fixed idea I had about death, about illness, about probability and luck…about marriage and children and memory . . . about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."
In The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion explores with electric honesty and passion a private yet universal experience. Her portrait of a marriage—and a life, in good times and bad—will speak directly to anyone who has ever loved a husband, a wife, or a child.
